11. Remove the veil

Currently, the princess was sitting on a bench beside the pond. The pond was situated in the garden near the guest residence inside the palace. The garden was the place where the princesses of the Jing came to gather and sightseeing in the evening. Like always, once the sun in the sky was no longer scorching, the group of princesses, their maidservants, along the daughters of ministers who got along with the princesses, came to the garden.

Nothing was out of place, and everything was perfect until one of them saw a figure sitting beside the pond. The beloved fifth princess of Jing, Aileen, walked near the figure to see who it was, with her maidservant following behind her. Others present also noticed the strange behavior of the fifth princess. Stopping the conversation they were having, they turned to look at what was going on.

"Who is that?" asked the fifth princess.

"Don't know. The silhouette looks like that of a girl. She doesn't look familiar. Who could it be?" asked Cui Cuifen, the youngest daughter of Minister Cui.

Recalling the conversation she had with her brother before coming to the gathering today, Zhao Xiaoli, the second daughter of Minister Zhao, said with some uncertainty, "Is that the betrothed princess of Ming? The attire doesn't look like that of Jing."

While gossiping, the group had already come before Ming Liao. An Wei, the seventh princess of the Jing, asked, "Who are you? And what are you doing here?"

Hearing the sound, Ming Liao turned back and saw a group of girls. If she had seen the group fifteen days ago, Ming Liao might have been intimidated and wouldn't even have been able to utter a sound. Her head would just be hanging down. No one would acknowledge her presence. And she wouldn't even know what to do.

But right now, neither an inferiority complex nor a lack of knowledge was present in her. Ming Liao swiftly stood up from the bench and did a basic courtesy, "Greetings, princesses of the Jing. I am Ming Liao, the eldest princess of the Kingdom of Ming. My maidservants are tidying the courtyard for my accommodation. Since I had nothing to do, I was just enjoying the breeze in the garden. I hope I didn't disturb your highnesses."

Everyone was taken aback by the performance of the princess. The seventh princess didn't even return the greeting. Even though the princess was still wearing the veil, everyone could see that she was a beauty. Her etiquette and manner were without flaw. She was nothing like how the rumors portrayed her.

But An Wei, the seventh princess, was a little pissed at this girl. She had hated this girl for she was said to be married to her beloved brother. The engagement had been canceled, but her brother was still lying on the bed unconscious. She was not going to let this girl go without peeling the layer of her skin.

"You... so you are Ming Liao. What are you wearing that veil for? Is your face disfigured? How dare you be disrespectful to us by covering your face?" As soon as An Wei opened her mouth, she started criticizing Ming Liao sternly. On top of that, she even went forward and tried to remove the veil from Ming Liao's face.

An Wei was the youngest princess of the kingdom. She was not the daughter of the Queen, but she had been raised by the Queen. The Queen had brought her up as her biological daughter. The Queen would always have her back for every trouble she caused. Because of this, she had developed a habit of bullying others. She didn't even realize that what she was going to do was not going to go unpunished.

Ming Liao was a little taken aback by the sudden eruption of the seventh princess's emotions. She took a step back so as not to have her face revealed. To be honest, the veil was nothing important for Ming Liao. She was not particularly interested in following the customs of the Ming Kingdom. But that did not imply she could be bullied into having her veil removed.

The daughters of ministers would not speak in this situation because they knew if they did, what would await them were the criticisms from their parents. That would be bearable, but the punishment from the Queen would not be something to be proud of, for An Wei had the Queen's favor. The fifth princess Aileen was also enjoying the unfolding drama with a smile, with no intention of interfering.

Unlike others, Zhao Xiaoli knew it was a bad idea to make things hard for Ming Liao. From what she heard from her brother about today's incident in court, she could discern that both the King and Queen were planning to take care of Ming Liao.